Palin Ignites Crowd In Tyler, TX

People were decked out in patriotic outfits and waving flags or signs that read “Run Baby Run! 2012” while Mrs. Palin spoke. She said she loved the signs and referenced one she saw the other day that read: “I can see November from my house.”

Mrs. Palin talked about the “tragic” oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and what it means to be an energy secure, energy independent nation that domestically drills for oil. She said she comes from a family who understands oil contributions to families, communities and states and she is mindful of the potential tragedy of an oil spill, such as the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989.

“Our heart is broken for them,” she said of the BP oil spill victims.

She said Washington doesn’t understand the need to be energy secure and President Barack Obama doesn’t understand that there’s a link between security and freedom while relying on others makes us less secure, less free and less prosperous.

“We don’t want the government taking over private industry, and I don’t think … that’s something Obama understands,” she said, adding that she is for domestic drilling with strict oversight. She said she supports free market, believes in competition and a level playing field and letting the government get out of the way for a free and prosperous nation.

She said the White House has its fingers in so many things it shouldn’t that it doesn’t focus on the one thing it should be focused on — national security.

Mrs. Palin said Obama asked for his job and the responsibilities that come with it, but he hasn’t done anything to clean up the oil spill or prevent it from happening. He has blamed others and refused offers for help from other countries and local Gulf residents, she said.

She said Obama is now pushing for an energy tax that will skyrocket the costs of energy and “cap and tax” will be “nothing short of disaster,” undermining the recovery in the short term and damaging the long term. Costs for everything from energy and transportation to groceries will be raised and the elderly and poor on fixed incomes will be hurt the most.

Mrs. Palin said she would have considered all ideas and all offers to help would be “on the table” and would have given the Louisiana governor as much latitude as he needed to protect his coastline. She said she would not have placed a moratorium on drilling because “they’ve suffered enough” without losing their livelihoods.

“We can’t go a day without petroleum,” she said, adding that it is used in everyday items, and it is virtually impossible to find a replacement for it.

The reality is, we can’t live without oil right now and if we stop domestic drilling, “we’ll have to get it from foreign regimes that do not like America very much,” she said. “We can develop responsibly if we have a political will.”

She said it would only take a stroke of a pen to “take us one step closer to energy independence.”

“There’s nothing stopping us from achieving energy independence that a couple of elections can’t fix,” she said. “We start in November 2010, and we finish in November 2012.”

Mrs. Palin said it was good to be back in Texas, which she calls “Alaska’s little sister state” and said she spends a lot of time in Giddings. Texas “is full of independent, hard working Americans that aren’t asking much from your government except to be on your side,” she said.

Mrs. Palin was the third conservative commentator to appear at The Oil Palace in the last year, following Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck.

“You can’t have a military, and play social engineering games and expect them to protect your country. That’s got to stop,” he said.

“Things aren’t going so well in Washington. … I know that’s why you’re here. We have been blessed with the greatest nation in the history of the world and we need to fight to keep it,” he said.

Berman said he is running for speaker of the house, “so we can deal finally with the 2.5 million illegal aliens here in Texas.” He said he “will file the Arizona bill in November.”

He said he doesn’t believe Obama is a natural-born citizen of America and Congress needs to stand up and challenge his citizenship.

Grassroots America — We the People sponsored a Stand for Freedom Rally before the Palin event at the Oil Palace. Rebecca Forest, co-founder of Central Texans for Secure Borders and President of the “No Amnesty” Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas, and, C. L. Bryant, who is host of “One Nation Back to God” radio show, a 9/12 March on DC rally leader and a spokesman for FreedomWorks and Tea Party Patriots, were guest speakers.